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WHEREAS, Silent Spring by Rachel Carson helped alert an international audience to the deleterious environmental and human health effects of pesticide use 50 years ago and gave birth to the modern environmental movement; and
WHEREAS, Carson was targeted by the chemical industry and by some in government for her views, but continued to advocate for environmental justice and public safety, spurring a reversal in the national pesticide policy of the United States; and
WHEREAS, The Rachel Carson Institute at Chatham University this year is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the publishing of Silent Spring and its profound and positive effect on our nation's environment; and
WHEREAS, Students from local universities will join forces with Bike Pittsburgh, Venture Outdoors, REI and many others to host a bicycle parade displaying environmental messages in Carson's honor from Chatham's Eastside campus to Point Park on Earth Day, April 22, as one of many events honoring Carson's life and work in the upcoming months including a migratory bird festival and a conference on sustainable food resources; and
WHEREAS, Carson grew up in Springdale Borough and graduated from Chatham University (then Pennsylvania College for Women) in 1929 as a student of marine biology and carried throughout her life a great love of nature and the living world; and
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NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby honor and recognize Rachel Carson and the Rachel Carson Institute for their research, education, and outreach in support of clean air, pure water, fertile soil, and biodiversity; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare April 17, 2012 to be "Rachel Carson Day" in the City of Pittsburgh.